1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a protective housing permanently adhered to an article of commerce for securing an electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag to deter theft of the article, to combinations of the article with the EAS tag and the housing, and to methods making the same.
2. The State of the Art
Antitheft tags for consumer articles are well-known, and systems using such devices are referred to as electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems. Exemplary of housings for EAS devices and systems using the same are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,949,336 and 5,955,951, and the reference cited there. In one embodiment, EAS tags have a circuit having a known resonant frequency and inducible to resonate by an externally applied magnetic or RF field, the existence of the expected resonance being evidence of the article; hence, placing a sensor for such a device at the exit of an establishment indicates that an article of merchandise with such a device is being taken from the store.
EAS devices and systems are well-known and do not form part of this invention. Rather, one aspect that retailers and manufacturers find is important is to keep the EAS tag as small and unobtrusive as possible. For example, the above-noted U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,951 describes a relatively large EAS tag that is secured with a tack through clothing, and the U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,336 patent describes a less obtrusive device but one which looks like a plastic tag of some sort.
Yet another problem is that potential shoplifters may attempt to remove from the merchandise an EAS tag, or any tag (including, for example, a price tag) that is easily identifiable as such. An EAS housing sold by BandG Plastics, Inc. (Newark, N.J. and Kowloon, Hong Kong) has a clamshell casing in which an EAS tag is housed, and the whole device is attached to merchandise. Thus, while the EAS tag is secured, the housing may be removed from the article. While some merchants and manufacturers have placed EAS tags on the cartons or boxes in which merchandise is packaged, shoplifters have avoided such anti-theft devices by merely removing the merchandise from the packaging.
Embodiments of this invention include one or more of the following features. The provision of a secured housing in which an EAS device is located that is attached to an article of commerce in an unobtrusive manner.
To provide an EAS device in a recess formed directly in the article of commerce.
The provision of an EAS tag in a housing, the housing having the general geometry of a rectilinear solid with one long face open, and a permanent adhesive on the edges of the open face, and with the adhesive attached to a release layer for later attachment to the article commerce.
The housing has a height dimension substantially greater than that of the EAS tag so as to define a cavity between the EAS tag and the open face. This height dimension is increased by the adhesive on the edges of the open face of the housing.